This could be the big tamale. CNNSI.com is reporting they’ve received word from four independent sources that Alex Rodriguez tested positive for an anabolic steroid and testosterone in 2003 – which happened to be an MVP season.

Arod was on a list of 104 players who tested positive for steroids in 2003, but while the league banned the substances at the time, there was no penalty for a positive test. MLB used the information gathered in 2003 to start the practice of mandatory tests and penalties for positive tests in 2004.

In his 2003 season with the Rangers, Arod won the AL MVP and had the most home runs in the league with 47.

My Take: This is one heck of a story ready to explode. He’s not the biggest fan favorite around the league, but there’s no doubt he’s looked at as possibly one of the greatest players ever to play. I think this test will only hurt his image, as again, there were no penalties for a positive test. We’ll see if Arod owns up to it; I think he has to. Either way, as a baseball fan in general, it is disheartening news as more and more ‘superstars’ from this generation seem to be cheaters.

It’s just a sad day for baseball. Yankee fan, red sox fan, it doesn’t matter. We all lost with this news. We are all going to continue to lose. At this moment, as a fan of the game of baseball, I can only hope that ANYONE else that has used will come out before the rest of the list of 104 major players are released. I’ve never been a huge Arod fan, but I was a fan who wanted to see him break Bond’s record, who believed he could. At this moment no one is safe, Ortiz who broke out in 03-04, Pujols who came out of no where (mcgwire’s last year), none of them. I want to root for someone to break the record and I can’t. I won’t. I refuse to, until this is all cleared up, once and for all.